By Harper Smith Members of Imagine Dragons are from left: Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon.
Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/ontheverge/story/2012-05-17/imagine-dragons-on-the-verge/55054514/1
Every evening while we nap to be non-comatose for the capital’s 10 p.m.-and-later dining hours, the cream-colored retriever named after the American singing icon barks excitedly as his Spanish owner returns from work and showers endearments we can hear from a floor above, then takes his pet down the small apartment building’s time-worn wooden steps for an evening walk.
Renting an apartment in a foreign country is a way to live alongside locals — and feel more like a resident than a tourist. Renting also can buy more for your vacation dollar, especially in Spain, which has been hit hard in the European economic smackdown and where prices are more reasonable than in other parts of the Continent.
Our renovated two-bedroom flat on a narrow cobblestone street in the historic city center costs about $150 a night (about $125 in slow periods). It comes with a fully equipped kitchen including dishwasher, and washer/dryer, complimentary Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV and small modern bathroom with granite counter and hair dryer. I rented from Spain Select, a firm I found on the Internet that has a good-looking portfolio of apartments. Madrid offerings start at about $100 a day, says reservations manager Caroline Rees, who estimates that 70% of clients are from the USA.
After a personable Spain Select staffer lets us into the “Leon” flat and shows us how things work, we take keys in hand, exit the tile-floored lobby through a heavy, ancient wooden door and start to explore.
Seeing how the locals live
Down the street is a small, appealing-looking coffeehouse, Bar La Piola, where the happy chatter of regulars greeted with a breezy “¿Qué tal?” (How are things going?) lures us to a white wooden table. At the metal counter under a chalkboard menu, slim brunette Marina Urgoiti serves up steaming espresso with hot milk and recommends a “tosta” of toasted bread topped with tomato and bubbly white cheese. It’s a slice of heaven for $4.50.
Where to stay: Live like a local by renting an apartment through an agency such as Spain Select (spain-select.com) or via an owner (VRBO.com. is a reputable site). It?s not hard to find a well-located property starting at about $100 a day (a cleaning fee may be extra). Drawbacks: Dealing with an individual owner can be more of a hassle than staying at a hotel if problems arise. Spain Select has a 4 p.m. check-in time, which can be frustrating if you arrive in the early a.m. on an overnight flight from the USA. However, it will try to arrange earlier check-in if the apartment is available.
Where to eat: Look for restaurants favored by locals; many serve a three-course lunch for less than $15. Tapas bars such as Casa Alberto at 18 Calle de las Huertas or Lateral (multiple locations) offer inexpensive small plates and wine.
Getting around: Central Madrid is packed with attractions such as the Prado museum. It is easy to get around by foot. Otherwise, the extensive Madrid Metro system is an inexpensive and easy option. Fares start at $1.90 a trip, and you can access the airport. Buy tourist passes or order a MadridCard that gets you into attractions and onto transport (MadridCard.com).
Information:esmadrid.com/en/
My travel partner, Barry, and I are thrilled that we’ve ended up in the Barrio de las Letras, a partially pedestrian-only area once home to great Spanish writers such as Cervantes and Lope de Vega. It also houses excellent tapas bars and is close to museums including the Reina Sofía and Prado.
At the Reina Sofía, we wade through tour groups to get a close-up of Picasso’s Guernica, which depicts the bombing of a Basque village and helped bring global attention to atrocities committed in the Spanish Civil War. At the Prado, we stand in a long line for the chance to view works by Goya and El Greco.
After picking up groceries — another perk of renting is snacks, drinks and meals in the fridge — we head back to “our” apartment to prepare for Spanish nightlife. Living like a pleasure-loving Madrileño means understanding the importance of the siesta (small shops still close for a few hours in the afternoon for owners to eat lunch or relax).
A night of flamenco, football and food
Our nights on the town often begin with a gin and tonic (all the rage in Madrid and sometimes served in huge goblets with fruit). At dimly lit, intimate Guau (Spanish slang for “wow”), we watch a European Champions League semifinal soccer game with a crusty barman who dismisses as theater the antics of stars trying to avoid being called for a foul.
Next stop: a tapas bar, to try small plates of various delicacies. At crowded Casa Alberto, which dates to 1827, we are taken under the wing of bartender Javier Carpintero (“Call me Javi”), who recommends anchovies on toast and veal meatballs. As we stand wedged in at the counter, he passes free plates of Spain’s sharp Manchego cheese and tangy marinated green olives, urging us to wash it all down with a crisp white Spanish Rueda wine (less than $3.50 a glass) or dry Fino sherry. Avoiding the $20 plate of Ibérico ham, sliced from a haunch at the end of the counter, we emerge with wallets lightened by just $35.
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
At Lateral, patrons page their servers with a button.
On to a newer, hip tapas destination: a branch of the chain Lateral. Surrounded by young Spaniards at blond wood tables gossiping about work or relationships, we use a button to summon a server and order dishes such as smoked tuna with tomato jam. Then we stroll to one of Madrid’s famed flamenco venues, also in our neighborhood. At Casa Patas, we’re ushered past velvet curtains to a small table near a stage where performers are wailing mournful songs, strumming acoustic guitars, clapping and whirling and stomping in rhythm.
By now it’s almost 1 a.m., early by Madrid standards but late for two Statesiders past college age. But on the way back home, we can’t resist a nightcap at Miranda, named for the late fruit-headdress wearing samba singer/actress. The crowd is watching reruns of that very tense soccer game, which Real Madrid lost in an overtime shootout to Germany’s Bayern Munich. As Munich fans cheer, we walk the half-block home.
Downturn doesn’t dampen energy
Before landing in Spain, we didn’t know what to expect in a country where unemployment is close to 25% and whose fortunes keep taking a turn for the worse. But for tourists, Madrid doesn’t seem like a city on the verge of an economic breakdown.
Beggars are not ubiquitous in tourist areas — though one did allude to what locals call la crisis with a sign saying he was 54 years old and can’t find a job or get help from relatives. Parks and attractions are well-maintained.
Restaurants and retailers such as the famous flagship department store of Spain’s El Corte Inglés chain are busy. Cab drivers say tourism is so important that everything possible is being done to assure pleasant experiences.
At Ten Con Ten, a pricey restaurant near the upscale Calle Serrano shopping area, every table is taken at 10:45 p.m. on a recent Sunday. Stick-thin fashionistas with blond highlights and their fuller-bodied mates order Champagne and exquisitely prepared black cod with apples. Late-model Mercedes and BMWs wait at the curb under the eye of a valet.
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
Marina Urgoiti is a welcoming presence at La Piola. She speaks multiple languages and is happy to recommend non-touristy places to visit.
Back at the Leon apartment, named for the street it’s on, the time has come to pack. But before leaving Madrid, we make time for one last coffee at La Piola.
By now, Marina is greeting us with a “¿Qué tal?”, too. She has given us restaurant suggestions and directed us to the Mercado de San Miguel, a covered market that attracts locals and tourists with paella stands, tapas bars, ice cream vendors and bakeries — whose wares can be washed down with wine at communal tables.
She wishes us a safe trip and sends us off with: “Hasta la próxima” (until the next time). And if there is one, it’s a good bet we’ll be back in the neighborhood, living la vida local.
Article source: http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-05-20/Partying-and-living-like-a-local-in-Madrid/55064722/1
Just in case you haven’t heard, an annular eclipse will dazzle the Pacific Ocean on Sunday (Monday in Asia); beginning at dawn for China and Japan, ending at sunset for western U.S. states — marching from the Oregon and Northern California coast to Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
For U.S. eclipse watchers, the path of “annularity” — or the annular eclipse “ring of fire” — will be seen from locations such as Medford, Oregon; Chico, California; Reno, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas, according to Spaceweather.com. The whole event will begin in the U.S. from 5:30 p.m. PST and last for around 2 hours. Sadly for eastern U.S. states, the eclipse will occur after sunset, hence the focus on the West Coast.
NEWS: Eclipse to Dazzle U.S. West Coast, China and Japan
At no time will the sun be completely blocked by the moon, however. This is an annular solar eclipse, not a total solar eclipse.
As the moon orbits the Earth, its path is slightly elongated. In today’s case, the moon will be slightly further away from the Earth, making its disk appear slightly smaller than the sun’s disk. When the moon drifts in front of the sun, the moon won’t totally block the sun’s light, leaving a bright ring surrounding the lunar disk.
BBC astronomer and Discovery News writer Mark Thompson explains:
When the moon’s disk appears the same size or larger than the sun, we see a total solar eclipse where the bright photosphere of the sun is blocked from view, revealing the intricate glory of the outer atmosphere of the sun — the corona. On occasions, though, the moon’s disk is slightly smaller than the sun as it appears in the sky leading to the strange spectacle of an annular solar eclipse.
Annular solar eclipses differ visually from total eclipses as the moon isn’t large enough to block the entire photosphere from view, leaving the moon surrounded by a ring of bright sunlight (as seen in the photo, top). It’s for this reason that annular eclipses must be observed with filters or using projection techniques. At no point of the eclipse on May 20th will it be safe to look directly at the eclipsed sun with the naked eye or with optical aid.
So, what can we expect to see from the ground at various locations in the U.S.? Larry Koehn, of ShadowandSubstance.com, has put together a series of animations depicting the eclipse from the states that can view the eclipse, taking the guesswork out of what you can and can’t see.
NEWS: Don’t Miss the 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse
Although the event is historic, never look directly at the eclipse. Use only certified eclipse glasses or a solar projector. Interestingly, you could also use a leafy tree as a natural eclipse-viewing instrument — just look at the shadows cast by the leaves, you’ll see countless little suns being blocked by the moon.
Source: Spaceweather.com
Images: The eclipse at “annularity” (top). Credit: George Hall/CORBIS. The U.S. eclipse map (bottom). Credit: NASA
Article source: http://news.discovery.com/space/will-you-see-todays-annular-eclipse-120520.html
May 20, 2012 8:54AM
Grant Park early Sunday morning. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times Photos
The NATO Summit: Latest news, background, protests and events
Map: NATO Summit road closures and parking restrictions
Updated:
May 20, 2012 10:16AM
As world leaders open talks on the future of Afghanistan, protesters began returning to Grant Park to post banners and signs Sunday morning before the Chicago NATO Summit opens at McCormick Place.
Early Sunday morning, Iraq Veterans Against the War members spoke out against the Iraq and Afghan War and called for an end to the occupation of Afghanistan and support for returning veterans at an event near Grant Park. Several dozen veterans were there, with some of them planning to give back the medals they earned in service later Sunday.
At 10:30 a.m., musician activist Tom Morello will perform at the Petrillo Band shell in Grant Park. The concert will be followed by a rally and march. Other protests are expected, and a worship service at Washington and Clark will “bless the protests.”
First Lady Michelle Obama will lead the spouses of NATO leaders on a tour of The Gary Comer Youth Center, which is home to everything from academic tutoring to a “Youth Urban Agriculture Program” to a recording studio, at 7200 S. Ingleside in the city’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, officials said.
Mrs. Obama and the rest of the group, along with kids involved in the Comer center and faculty there, will be treated to some local entertainment, including the South Shore Dance Drill Team, the Muntu Dance Theater which features African and African-American dance and music as well as the Soul Children of Chicago, another musical group.
President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary General opens the main event, the summit, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will huddle on the sidelines of the summit for an hour-long meeting. Their talks are expected to focus on planning for Afghanistan’s 2014 elections, as well as the prospect of a political settlement with the Taliban, a senior Obama administration official said.
Article source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/12654223-418/nato-show-begins-today-with-summit-protests.html
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Spoleto Festival USA opens its 36th season Friday and among the planned performances is an opera by American composer Philip Glass to commemorate his 75th birthday and his long relationship with the internationally known arts festival.
The Charleston festival is staging the American premiere of “Kepler,” about the famed German astronomer Johannes Kepler. Only the score has previously been performed in this country.
“We had been talking about various different things and this seemed the most appropriate,” said festival General Director Nigel Redden, who first met the composer 40 years ago. “It’s the American stage premiere but it’s also the premiere of a new version and it’s in English. Philip, I think, was anxious to have it done in English to make it more accessible.”
Glass has had a long relationship with Spoleto. Among other performances over the years, the first American production of his “Book of Longing,” based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen was performed in 2007. A year earlier, a minimalist fanfare by Glass was performed at the opening ceremonies on a so-called car-illon. The car-illon consisted of a line of BMWs, each with a speaker on the roof and a license plate displaying the note it played.
“This festival was founded by a composer and we feel increasingly it’s desirable to have composers here,” Redden said.
The Spoleto Festival USA was founded here in 1977 by composer Gian Carlo Menotti as a companion to his Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. He left the Charleston festival in 1993 in a dispute over his successor and died five years ago at age 95, still estranged from the festival he started here.
The festival’s opening ceremonies are Friday and during the following two weeks there will be more than 140 shows by 60 groups and performing artists on stages across the city.
A second Spoleto opera is the American premiere of “The Phoenix Pavilion” by Guo Wenjing, a contemporary Chinese composer. It features an orchestra of four traditional Chinese instruments blended with Western instruments.
The visual arts offering is the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art’s show by Motoi Yamamoto, who uses salt to create large-scale art installations that resemble – depending on how you view it – lace, waves or mazes.
The Charleston installation won’t be completed until the night before the festival opens, because Yamamoto works painstakingly sitting on the floor to create patterns for the installation. But Yamamoto sees his work as a form of meditation.
The Japanese artist estimates it will take 120 hours to complete using about 400 pounds of salt.
Clemson University architecture students designed a stairway and an overlook so patrons can get a better look at the salt design that Yamamoto creates to match the floor space available. Yamamoto began working with salt to keep alive the memory of his sister who died of brain cancer at age 24.
The show at the Halsey runs through July 7th when the public is invited to come and scrape the sand off the floor and then spread it into the Cooper River near the South Carolina Aquarium.
But for Yamamoto, that’s all part of the art.
“I am happy, not sad,” at the end of a show, he said. “At the ceremony, people go to the sea and I can imagine the cycle of the salt is like the cycle of life.”
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Online:
Spoleto Festival USA: http://spoletousa.org/home/
Also on HuffPost:
Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/20/spoleto-festival-2012-philip-glass_n_1530749.html
